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So, it's noticeably quiet on here! Hope everyone has been out enjoying the amazing weather!
I haven't got a ride in yet, been too busy socialising. But, got some time yesterday to finally fit some tubeless tyres to my (new to me) wheels.
First time fitting tubeless and got to admit I was a little nervous about it after reading of peoples struggles on here but it couldn't have gone better.
Cleaned the rims, put a wrap of Stan's tape on, struggled a bit to get the tyres on(snapped a tyre lever, must buy some stronger ones) Inflated with foot pump and they went straight on, no messing! Couldn't believe it! Valve core out, in with the sealant and reinflate.
Still at same pressure today, so off for a ride tomorrow.
Probably no big deal to many on here but I'm happy with it!
Nice! Good prep pays off in my experience.
Cheers! Thought it might, so was very carefull with the the cleaning.
It's one of those things that when it goes well, it goes very well but when it goes bad..... Well, you get the picture.
I spent yesterday afternoon rebuilding my front wheel with a Pro 4 then converting that to tubeless. Taping the rim was an absolute ball ache and my £3 Sainsburys track pump only just managed to pump it up but hopefully it will still be inflated when I get home from work. Then it's just the back wheel to convert!
Tight tyres makes a hell of a difference. Baggy ones make the job a royal PITA.
Got to do my rear again as its got a split in the tread and my previous patching trick just hasn't worked this time.
I made one of those coke bottle tubeless inflators for £2 and it has been brilliant when setting up tubeless.
I was also lucky when swapping some tires between wheels recently. I removed the front tire with the sealant in it from one wheel and fitted it to the new wheel without spilling a drop. To balance it out the gods punished my smugness by making me spill the back tires sealant everywhere.
Nice. Have yet to make the jump. Old habits die hard. Two nights ago I discovered a fast puncture and found a brand new 1.5" wood screw embedded up to the head. I had to unscrew it from the tyre! It crossed my mind how would a tubeless setup handle this eventuality? Although in 40yrs of cycling this was a first, and not likely to happen again (unless was a fiendish trap set by local psycho)
Snapped a tyre lever, must buy some stronger ones
Pedros. Best sick squid ever.
I think a lot of first timers think it's going to be harder than it is. Mind you, I've a rear that doesn't want to keep air at the minute, tried various valves and tape... Driving me barmy! 😁
I’ve always found tubeless easy - both with DT Swiss rims and wtb ones. Also with schwalbe / Maxxis / On-one tyres.
Until recently when I went to put a used 2.3 Maxxis aggressor onto a Dt xm481 rim. Just couldn’t get it to seat and my cheapie CRC tubeless inflator pump gave up the ghost after 6-8 blasts to try to get it to seat.
Ended up buying an airshot (to be fair to CRC they refunded me in CRC vouchers on the failed pump without even insisting on sending it back to them after 1.5 years of ownership) and after 2-3 blasts of hat I finally got all the beads seated.
Baggy tyres are a monster. Asymmetric rims where the spoke holes are closer to one side are also a nightmare. I have wheels and tyres that area a doddle and others where you'll lose a couple of hours getting them inflated.
My biggest fail was old rims that didn't grip the tyre well. At 50 psi the tyre jumped the rim and fired Stan's to the four corners of the room. Took hours to clean up.
Sounds like it might be a case of beginers luck then with the tight tyre rim combo. OH needs a new pair on her bike so will have to see how I get on with them.
Malvern Rider
Snapped a tyre lever, must buy some stronger ones
Pedros. Best sick squid ever.
Cheers! will look for some.
Fire extinguisher inflator gets pretty much any tyre seated. Even sorted out my baggy old Rocket Ron's on a Joe's converted rim. About 10 litres capacity at 150psi takes no prisoners. 😎
Can second the Pedro's recommendation, they're ace!
tthew
Fire extinguisher inflator gets pretty much any tyre seated.
Cool! Is that something you made up yourself? If so where do you get fittings etc? I have a pub CO2 bottle that I was thinking of trying to convert for same purpose.
Sounds like it might be a case of beginers luck then with the tight tyre rim combo
If you use the right tyres, rims and tape then there is no beginners luck about it. It is only when people bodge it that it doesn't go well. I have never had t use more than a track pump on any of the 10+ different tyres and rims I had had (all tubeless specific)
found a brand new 1.5″ wood screw embedded up to the head. I had to unscrew it from the tyre! It crossed my mind how would a tubeless setup handle this eventuality?
IME no, the hole would be too large. Tubeless is great for avoiding pinch flats and things like thorns, but once the hole gets to a certain size the goo can't handle it.
Cheers! will look for some.
I notice they are £4 at Merlin (20% off) atm, £2 shipping.
Recommend yellow, they are easy to find/not to lose
Man uses correct parts and equipment in it worked shocker!!
Is that something you made up yourself? If so where do you get fittings etc?
Yes homemade, following instructions from a thread on here a few years ago. I'll try and find it later when I'm on a proper computer.
You basically replace the CO2 horn with an old track pump hose and put a presta valve in the fitting on the front which has a safety bursting disk behind it. Couldn't be easier.
Cheers @tthew would be interested to read that.
Cheers @Malvern Rider got a pair from merlin and a couple of other tools which got me free shipping.
Whereas I have had the opposite experience for the last week. I have been battling with conti race king 29 protections 2.2 on a non tubeless front rim for a week. They go up fine to 40psi ( using stans rim tape and rim strip and 90 ml of sealent ), i do the shake thing manically, lay the wheel horizontally on a bucket each side, ride it each day for a few miles, and have scrubbed the inside of the tyre, but it still drops to 10 psi over night - i put it in the bath and it's leaking through the sidewalls - any suggestions gratefully received ...
If they are non-tubeless runs, I think you need more than tape. I'm no expert but I've used the Joe's conversion kit a couple of times on non-tubeless, it's basically a factory produced ghetto solution. Porous sidewalls should seal eventually though, just keep blowing them up and add a glug more sealant to compensate.
Edit - sorry, didn't read it properly, you already used rum strip. In which case the second bit stands.
Thanks for the video - are you suggesting that i need to go much higher than 40 psi to seal the sidewalls? stan's recommend 40 psi max ... And if so, can I use a co2 inflator instead of the above inflator? Thanks
If it holds air well enough to ride, ride it, at least around the block for half an hour. 90ml is plenty in the tyre you describe. It'll sort itself out. I wouldn't use co2, it can mess with some sealants.
Been tubeless for about 6 years now. Have all my 3 off road bikes set up that way. But the effort in getting tyres to seat means i try to avoid changing tyres too often.
After having to remove a chunky monkey last week to change a spoke and then really struggling to get it to re seat on the rim (after track pump and ghetto inflator both failed) i finally gave in and bought an airshot.
Wow! Wish i'd bought one 6 years ago. It almost makes changing tyres fun!!!
Ive been pumping it up and riding it for 30 mins each day but it still goes down a few hours later - how long does it take to plug all the holes?
When you use the airshot what pressure does the tyre reach and do you have sealant in the first?
Thanks
Clean the inside of the tyre thoroughly. It’s a common Continental problem - the mould release residue stops the sealant working.
Just checked the front wheel I did, still fully inflated after 36hrs.
Life is good 😎
When you use the airshot what pressure does the tyre reach and do you have sealant in the first?
No idea as i have the valve core out and there is no pressure gauge on the airshot. The tyres do end up rock hard, but as soon at the airshot is removed they deflate but the tyre is still seated. I then add stans via the valve using a syringe, re insert the valve core, then inflate using a track pump.
After having to remove a chunky monkey last week to change a spoke and then really struggling to get it to re seat on the rim (after track pump and ghetto inflator both failed) i finally gave in and bought an airshot.
Wow! Wish i’d bought one 6 years ago. It almost makes changing tyres fun!!!
Yeah I never regret buying mine,makes it so less farf .
I tend to soap up and test try to see if it’ll go up otherwise a tad more tape then when happy stans injector the spunk in screw valve in an blast it again.
I have used track pumps and done it but it’s waaay harder work on the tricky ones.
I've managed to get some tyres up without a blast of air, but I made the pop bottle/tubing homebrew compressed air reservoir. This has worked fine, even on relatively baggy tyres, and avoids huge effort being required to remove tyres.
It was a couple of years ago I put it together though, and these days I reckon I'd go for something off the shelf as the prices have come down from ~£90 to ~30.